The Mail-Journal, Volume 16, Number 2, Milford, Kosciusko County, 31 January 1979 — Page 4

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THE MAIL-JOURNAL — Wed., January 31,1979

Editorials Were voicing our opinion For some time now The Mail-Journal has been without an editorial page. We have decided it is time once again to take a stand on local issues — to voice our opinion on topics of the day. In doing so we have no intention of trying to create a dictatorial policy for the community by saying, “It’s this way or else.” Our intentions are to call public attention to important happenings in the area, the state, the nation and the world. We hope these editorials will get people thinking. We hope our readers will then take a stand on community issues and that the editorials will play an important part in helping our readerg to get away from the apathy that seems to be everywhere in today’s society. This newspaper welcomes the opinion of its readers. We invite persons to send letters to the editor expressing their views on our editorials or any other matter of interest to the community. All we ask is that the letters be 300 words or less and that they be signed. We’re going to voice our opinion... how about you? Winter — if can be fun I While some people are busy complaining about the weather this winter, others are delighted with the snow and ice. Winter, they say, makes the Lakeland area •better than ever! There’s fun and sport for every kind of person. Snowmobiling and ice fishing. Down hill and crosscountry skiing. Basketball. Bowling. Fireside chats and the like. These events are fun. They can be entertaining for the viewer as well as the participant. They provide exercise and healthful outdoor, as well as indoor, recreation. And, the fishermen even take home a meal or two if they are lucky. Last week after the heavy, wet snow many people enjoyed snow projects. All over the countryside snowmen and snowwomen sprung up. And, at least one inventive family created a snow dog as they enjoyed an afternoon of fun in the outdoors. So if you’re a person who doesn’t like winter weather, don’t complain. Relax. Enjoy it. March is ortly 28 days away and with the warmer temperatures will come maple syrup making and then spring can’t be far behind. They're working on the problem We couldn’t help but notice the headlines on the newspaper in the accompanying editorial cartoon v “20% of people can’t read this story.” And, we can’t help but wonder how true that is in the Lakeland area! One thing we know, the local school corporation is working on the problem. For years the Lakeland Community School Corporation has had a speech and hearing therapist. Each school in the corporation has a learning resource center (we used to call them libraries). Reading specialists work with youngsters who have problems, as do tutors. This year the corporation received formal approval from Reading Is Fundamental, Inc., for a program in the elementary schools. Lakeland’s RIF program is designed to provide three reading motivational activities during the year, followed by three book distributions for students in grades one through five. Each student gets to pick out a book that becomes his or her very own property. One such distribution was made last fall, another was scheduled for last week and the third will be held later in the school year. The RIF program is a matching program with the school corporation furnishing $1,500 and RIF Incorporated furnishing $1,500. The Lakeland schools also use federal funds where possible. During the 1977-1978 school year $32,461 was received for tutorial reading. Under this program teacher aides work with one to three students who have reading difficulties. An additional $7,561 was received for migrant education for a bi-lingual aide to assist Spanish speaking children. And, $5,976 was received under title IV-B for library and instructional materials. So you see... they are working on the problem! How to handle school poor relief The best means of providing books, school supplies, shoes and clothing to school children whose parents do not have sufficient means is a question of considerable concern to Turkey Creek township trustee Joseph D. Shewmon, a tightfisted trustee when it comes to dispensing public funds to the needy. The courts have ruled that a determination of who qualifies for such aid is to be made by school authorities and not by township trustees. “I’m really up in the air about this,” trustee Shewmon protests. And Lakeland school superintendent Don Arnold said this week, “As a school administrator I’d be happy if it (the determination of the needy) could be kept in the hands of the trustee.” j, Trustee Shewmpn points to the Indiana Court of Appeals in a case of Wayne Township of Allen County vs Fort Wayne Community Schools (Judge Jesse Eschbach of Warsaw presiding) which rendered a decision on August 17,1978 in favor of the schools. The judgment was that it is the responsibility of the trustee to reimburse the school corporation for such books and supplies it furnished to poor children under the program. Also, in a class action case earlier this year heard in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Lafayette, a similar ruling was made. Accordingly, the Department of Public Instruction has mandated all school boards to file a full, written report about how they plan to accomplish poor relief in their individual school corporations by April 12,1979. A number of bills are in the Indiana General Assembly now in session to correct this matter, according to superintendent Arnold, and to give this responsibility back to the township trustees. Meanwhile, trustee Shewmon wants to keep poor relief (as far as school supplies are concerned) in the township under his wing where he thinks it belongs. .1

Siuj BBSS ■eSHBF' •» V'TX / ' «“ <■ ■ " RELAX WE’VE GOT THE OTHER SO’t — THEY'RE CAILEP SUBSCRIBERS ’ *

know who the freeloaders are,” he contends. And the school authorities would be glad if he had this burden back. Poor relief is a remaining responsibility of the township trustees. Without this they may as well abandon the office entirely. It would appear to us that keeping the trustee on as a watchdog is a good idea, even though, according to some recipients, they “have to undergo a hassle” to get any proper relief from trustees. In the instance of trustee Shewmon, he appears to have taken his job seriously and we know of no case where relief has been refused where it is warranted. What others say — From a son Sometimes our children provide great words of wisdom. The following two ideas came from the 10-year-old son of the Carroll County Comet editor: No. 1 — The price of movies has shot up, $4 from $1.50. Refreshments such as soft drinks - small 25 cents, medium 45 cents, large 75 cents. Popcorn 25 cents, 50 cents, 75 cents. Candy bars from 20 cents to 50 cents. I think with lots of other people, this is too expensive. No: 2 — Grocery shopping. If you are an average family of 3,4, 5, you might spend $25-35-45 a week. If you spend $25 a week all year it comes out to $1,300. If you spend $35 a week all year it comes out to SI,BOO and $45 comes out to $2,340. Things are too expensive. Perhaps his ideas need to be considered by our lawmakers. — Carroll County Comet

Open Door Weekly Report From Senator John B. Augsburger

With the Indiana General Assembly now in it’s second week, much of the work has been confined to the various legislative committees. The budget subcommittees of the Senate finance and House ways and means committees have been reviewing the budget proposals of various state agencies and departments. This week the budget proposals of the department of natural resources, the state highway commission and the department of corrections were reviewed. These hearings will continue into the rest of the month and then the sub-committees will make final budget recommendations to their respective committees and houses. In other action this week, the Senate secondary and special education committee passed a bill (SB 164) which would remove private church schools from the authority of the state commission on general education. The bill passed the committee 7-0 and has been sent to the full Senate. The Senate judiciary committee passed Senate bill 67, which if signed into law, would require judges to impose mandatory prison terms on persons convicted of dealing with narcotics. This bill has also been sent to the full Senate. Other bills filed this week and assigned to committee include: *SB 108, which if enacted would require gasoline stations to advertise the price that appears on the pump. *SB 159, which would forbid instruction in sexual intercourse, abortion, and contraception in schools. Under this bill, parents would be entitled to complete information about « the sex education program in the school and could request that their child be excused from the course.

THE MAIL-JOURNAL (U.S.P.S. 325-840) Published by The Mail-Journal every Wednesday and entered as Second Class ■natter at the Post Otfice at Syracuse, o Indiana 44567. Second class postage paid at 103 E. Main street, Syracuse, Indiana 46567 and at additional entry offices. Subscription: $9 per year in Kosciusko County; 811 outside county. POSTMASTERS: Send change of address forms to The Mail-Journal, P.O. Box 188, Milford, Indiana 46542.

*SB 224, which would give the voters the chance to decide whether Indiana convert to the metric system. It would provide for a statewide “referendum on the mandatory adoption of the system. Two bills I am sponsoring this session are: ♦SB 292, which provides that appeals from decisions of an area planning commission may be made in the same manner as appeals from decisions of the board of zoning appeals are made. ♦SB 293, which provides for the establishment procedures for employing or terminating the employment of oil and gas inspectors of the department of natural resources. Your comments on these and on other issues before the General Assembly are invited. Hamijiersley gives report The 1978 yearly report for the Kosciusko County Sheriff Department shows the department drove 315,299 miles. They answered 4,767 complaints and 480 off duty complaints. There were 470 traffic arrests and 3,066 papers served. Accidents involving 1,285 cars were investigated. A total of 358 people were injured and nine of the accidents were fatal. The total amount of damages in the accidents was $1,327,206. Os the total amount, $1,182,671 was in estimated damages and $144,535 was in property damages. The total number of accidents was 832 with 485 accidents during the day, 308 at night and 39 accidents at dusk or dawn. From all the accidents there were 102 arrests made. There were 38 deer killed in accidents. The county jail reports shows the sheriff’s department jailed 1,031, the state police had 28 jailed and the city department jailed 676, for a total of 1,736 in total bookings. Os the 1,736 bookings 294 were boys, 100 juvenile girls, 1,209 were men and 133 were women. The county sheriff department’s yearly investigations totaled: 260 burglaries, 256 thefts, 189 vandalisms, 39 batteries, six suicides and two attempted suicides. Also two rapes, five indecent exposures, six child abuses, six forgeries, one drowning, five natural deaths and one accidental death.

Court news SMALL CLAIMS Complaints Harold Kaiser. Milford vs Rex A. Westerman, r 1 Milford. The plaintiff demands judgment against the defendant in the amount of $211.20. for costs of the action and all other proper relief in the premises. On Note Household Finance Corporation, Crawfordsville vs Delores C. Zachary r 4 Syracuse. Plaintiff demands that the plaintiff have and recover of the defendant a judgment in the sum of $947.11 plus interest, costs, a reasonable attorney’s fee and all other proper relief. Foreclosure Counting House Bank vs Jack H. and Carolyn Sue Francis, r 5 box 500 Syracuse, Kosciusko County Treasurer, State Bank of Syracuse. Plaintiff sues and demands judgment against Jack and Carolyn Francis in the principal sum of $3,400 together with interest from May 10,1978 to September 10, 1978 in the sum of $136, together with interest from and after said date of September 10, 1978 at the rate of 12 per cent per annum, together with reasonable attorney’s fees in the sum of SI,OOO, plus costs of the action and all other relief proper in the premises. Peoples State Bank, Leesburg vs Jerry E. and Anna Lou jjPhillips, r 1 box 86 Milford. The plaintiff demands judgment of the defendants for the sums due it not exceeding $30,000, the costs of this action and all without relief from valuation and appraisement laws, and for foreclosure of its mortgage and security agreement of the defendants and that the right of redemption of each of the be foreclosed, forever barred and for all proper relief. Note Peoples State Bank, Leesburg vs Gregory K. Secor, r 2 Leesburg. Plaintiff demands judgment of the defendant in the sum of $3,100 and for all other proper relief. MARRIAGE DISSOLUTIONS Bronsing - Denise Bronsing and Jeffrey Bronsing, P.O. Box 827 Winona Lake. Married September 23, 1978, the couple separated January 4, 1979. Petitioner asks that she be granted a decree of dissolution of marriage, a reasonable amount for attorney’s fees and for the cost of the action and all other proper relief in the premises. MARRIAGE LICENSES Richel-Katcher Michael P. Richel, 53, r 1 Harbor Side no. 2 Syracuse and Carole Ann Katcher, 40, Syracuse Stamp-Beezley Lon Alan Stamp, 17, P.O. Box 64 North Webster and Teresa Mae Beezley, 18, North Webster Pischke-Lung Danny Lee Pischke, 19, r 5 Syracuse and Lorri Mae Lung. 16, r 4 Syracuse Crawford-Adkins Richard Martin Crawford, 21, 706 Baltimore, Syracuse and Pamela Jean Adkins, 16, r 3 box 481 Syracuse Sharp-Hall Fred H. Sharp, 54, r 1 Larwill and Teresa A. Hall, 17, r 2 Milford BOOKED AT JAIL Jeffrey Lee Highley, 22, r 2 Leesburg, was arrested on a Kosciusko County Court warrant for failure to comply with a court order. He was released on a S7O payment to the court on a charge of visiting a common nusiance a class “B” misdemeanor. Truck slides, breaks pole Gary L. Weaver, 18, 14603 County Line Road, Syracuse, escaped injury at 12:01 pm. last Wednesday when his 1976 GMC truck slid out of control on U .S. 33 in Elkhart County and broke a telephone pole. The accident occurred just south of CR 36. Damage by investigating officers was set at $650.

taiziN AROUND CU!£|E

Patricia thWAITS, pictured at the right, is showing all the signs of joyful pride and seems to be telling her mother something like “We made it, Mom,” in a photo taken moments after the mother-daughter team graduated in capping ceremonies recently as nurses at the Indiana Vocational Technical College in South Bertd. Pat is a graduate of Fairfield High School and her mother Doris is a New Paris high graduate and the wife of Syracuse Realtor Lawrence Thwaits. Mrs. Thwaits had a lot of misgivings about returning to the classroom following a number of years out of school, according to her husband, who was waiting in the wings to congratulate the attractive new nurses. MR. AND Mrs. Curt Curtis of Springfield, Ohio, have built a new home on Chapman Lake and plan to make their home there permanently after school is out at Greenon (O.) High School where Mrs. Curtis, the former Marilynne Tuttle, daughter of the James O. Tuttles, also of Chapman Lake, is head of the guidance department. The Curtiss daughters. Stephanie and Katrina, are students at Greenon high, and they want to finish out the school year before moving back to Kosciusko County. The Curtises opened a Gropp’s Famous Fish of Stroh in South Bend on 52127 VS 31 North, about 1’ 2 miles north of the Indiana Turnpike, earlier this month. The place will seat 170 and feature Millie Gropp’s Famous Fish. Mrs. Curtis confides, “Plans for a second restaurant are indefinite at the present.” MR. AND Mrs. Hub Anglemeyer of North Shore Drive left Sunday by auto for a w inter’s visit on South Padre Island, near Brownsville. Texas. They are meeting the Sidney Sorgs of Goshen and the Nelson Sorgs of Elkhart at Effingham, 111., from which point they will drive to Texas together. —o— , NOT EVERYONE gets his name in lights when he turns 60 years of age. but Jack Oswald, owner of Three Flags, did last Thursday when he hit the less-than-coveted milestone. His “faithful’’ help ganged up on him and posted the sign for all to. see: “Happy Birthday . Jack. 60!” One friend of Jack's looked at the sign, sighed, and said. “60 isn't so bad.” Another added. “It’s better than 55 and dead! ” Perhaps as a result of the age milestone. Jack has become generous of heart and is giving free coffee in what he has termed his “happy hour” — from about X to 10 a.m. Once this word is out. we can guarantee him a crowd. IT’S UNLIKELY that the Little League ball diamond north of Syracuse near the St. Andrews United Methodist Church will be lighted, if lighting depends upon the use of revenue sharing funds. Turkey Creek township trustee Joe Shewmon has been approached to use some of these funds to light the ball field by Ron Roberts, president of the Kiwanis Club of Wawasee and a member of the Lakeland Youth Center Board of Directors. Shewmon said he has other

f < F V SNOOPY THE

NURSES DORIS AND PAT THWAITS.

priorities for use of the revenue sharing funds, much of it concerning public services and aid to poor people. He said, how ever, he would bring the proposal before his advisory board, made up of 4 Virgil Bobeck. Jack Ridings and Jack Alfrey. “What concerns me. even if we did use the money to light the ball field, is who would pay the utility bills on an ongoing basis?” Shew mon asked. SYRACUSE HAS a new and unique business, now open in Wawasee Village. Larry G. Stover and Ginny Schue. both of Warsaw, have opened the Tackle Specialties in a building known as the Chet Elder building, where Elder Realty was formerly ■located. The firm will handle live bait, custom manufactured rods, and provide a complete fishing tackle service. "SNOOPY.” THE fabulous dog in the popular Charlie Schultz cartoon, came to our corpfnunity in the form of a large snow figure at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Bill Fisher in Woodland Acres. Snoopy is an outsized dog of solid snow, and is the result of a day’s work (last Wednesday) following the season’s worst snow blizzard. It is the handiwork of the following kids: Derek Smith, eight; Ann Marie Vitaniemi, 10: Margie Fisher. 13: Billy Fisher, 12: and Charlene Fisher. 11. All of these kids are shown in the photo of Snoopy which accompanies this column. Not shown, but also lending a helping hand, w ere: Kevin Blade, Chris Miller, Jim Plummer. Jeff Carden and John Vitaniemi. - Snoopy is easily the winner of our "Attaboy Award” for the week. —o— ANOTHER ACTOR IS BORN as our town's Randy Clayton takes part in a drama presentation entitled “The Shadow Box” by Michael Cristofer. on February 1-3 at the Black Curtain Dinner Theater in Indianapolis. The son of Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Clayton of Syracuse and a graduate of Wawasee High School in 1978, he is a student at Indiana University and the drama group made their presentation there in November. A drama with comedy relief, the presentation was a 1977 Pulitzer prize, winner and a 1977 Tony Award winner. Originally directed by Harper McAdoo for the University Main Stage Theater, the play was

adapted for the Black Curtain and takes place at a hospital in California. Randy plays a 14-year-old boy whose father is dying of cancer but not aware of it. Also, it features William Kinzer. associate professor at IU; Mary Forrest, director of drama at Bloomington High School South; and Michael Sokolaff. director of body movement at the university. — O’FLASHING PRECEDED a 10second electrical outage in several areas around Syracuse Sunday evening when switching was being done on a 69.000-volt line coming to Syracuse. NIPSCo manager Jay Peffley did not know the source of trouble or what prompted the outage and sw itching phase. —o—- — VICE principal Donn Kesler was courteous enough to show this scribe around the newphysical education facilities and to offer a peek at the deluxe scoreboard that went up in the swim area. The 7x12-foot electronic board offers, in bright 12-inch letters, scores for six competing lanes at one time, and is certain to offer about 300 (seated) spectators a running account of the event at hand. The board was used for the first time last night (Tuesday) when the Warrior swimmers competed with the Warsaw Tigers. Final score: 93-71, Warsaw. The board was manufactured by the Fairtron Corp.. Des Moines. lowa, and installed byDelp Electric, Plymouth. —0GANSHORN PRINTING has agreed to a lease-purchase arrangement with Tom McClain for at least part of the Wawasee Village Center as a new- location for its printing business. The idea is not to abandon the firm's uptown location, however. Commodore Corp., which now occupies Wawasee Village Center as its headquarters, is moving to its new Vega location on West Brooklyn Street, thus making the Village Center available. For one reason or another Jerry and Jim looked askance at moving across the street to the post office building to be vacated sometime this summer. —o - ' l FROM NOW on. look for this column on our new editorial page each week. We invite all our patrons to voice their opinions. Letters to the editor may be sent to our Syracuse office and must be 300 w ords or less.